


Fire From Stone

by CaptainDemetrios



Series: Cuddle Squad [8]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Adopted Child, Baby, Cuddle Squad, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-11
Updated: 2017-01-10
Packaged: 2018-09-16 18:50:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9285389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainDemetrios/pseuds/CaptainDemetrios
Summary: Hawke and his boyfriends decide to adopt a child





	1. Babysitting

**Author's Note:**

> Characters here: ddragontales.tumblr.com

Before Hawke and his boyfriends went off to Weisshaupt, they agreed to stick around their clinic and keep an eye on Mikela, while Arik went to fight Corypheus.

 

Mikela had grown so attached to Arik and Dorian, but he looked up to Anders too. He even asked Anders to teach him how to help around the clinic. It was nice to see Mikela acting like a child again, even smiling sometimes, even if his magic was drastically decreased.

 

The four of them (five, if you count Justice) took care of Mikela over the next few weeks. They took turns going to him when he woke from nightmares. They made sure he ate, they played with him.

 

They grew used to having a child to take care of.

 

Arik returned, weary, worse-for-wear, troubled, but alive and perfectly happy to take Mikela back into his life. 

 

The house seemed so quiet once Mikela was gone.

 

Even Eli and Anders, who usually filled the house with idle chatter, spoke very little once the house was childless again.

 

Fenris and Cutie were in their small library, organizing books after Arik had paid them for their babysitting services with some rare scripts from the Skyhold library. Cutie was pulling down books and handing them back to Fenris to be ordered, barely glancing at the titles. 

 

He stopped at a children’s book he recognized as Mikela’s.The target audience was younger than Mikela, but it comforted him on nights when the dreams were bad, and no one was going to make him feel lesser because of that. 

 

Cutie opened the book. Fenris watched him.    
  
“Cutie? Where do you want me to put that one..?” Fenris asked softly, not expecting a real answer.   
Cutie just put it back on the shelf.

 

Later that night, Fenris sat outside their clinic. It was a clear night, if a bit chilly. He had the children’s book in his lap.    
Anders sat next to him and wrapped a blanket around Fenris’ shoulders. 

 

“Ten years ago the thought of a child could not possibly have crossed my mind.” Fenris said, after a long moment of silence. “A real relationship, real romance, that was impossible, a child? Even farther from my mind than a concept of freedom.” 

 

Anders nodded. “Me too. Even when I was with Karl, in the Circle, kids… It’s impossible for most mages, I never even thought about it when I finally escaped.”

 

Fenris looked up at the clear night sky. “But now.”

 

“But now?” 

 

“It felt right, having Mikela here. It felt... “ He looked at Anders, finally meeting his eye. “I want children, Anders.”

 

“I want that too.”

 

“Cutie, I don’t know if he… Mikela was older, I don’t know if a child, a young child, would be something he wants.” Fenris sighed

 

“You could try asking.” Cutie said, surprising Fenris and Anders as he sat beside Fenris. Eli sat next to Anders. They were all quiet for a moment.

 

“So, how do we do this?” Eli spoke first. “Do we just. Take a kid from the streets or something?”   
  
“We are not kidnapping a child, Eli!” Cutie scolded.

 

“The alienage orphanages are always overpopulated.” Fenris pointed out. 

 

Anders nodded quickly, growing excited. “Yeah, the one in Amaranthine, they know us there, and they have a lot of young children orphaned by the war.” 

 

Cutie looked over at Eli and Anders. “would you… be ok with an elven child? I mean, you wouldn’t want your child to be human?” 

 

“That doesn’t matter.” eli said.    
  


“Whoever they are, we’re going to love them.” Anders said, with confidence. 

  
“So… we’re really doing this then? Adopting a baby.” Fenris looked to the sky again.   
  
“We are.” Eli smiled.


	2. Terisin

The next morning, they went to the alienage, and the mother of the orphanage was ecstatic to have them look at the babies. Anders went to the older kids, healing some of the sick ones he saw in bed and just cheering up some of the others, while Eli, Fenris and Cutie went to the infants and toddlers, sleeping in their cribs.

 

“Can you tell if they’re mages?” Cutie asked Eli. Eli shook his head.

 

“Some mages get their power pretty early, but most of the time you can’t tell until they’re at least five.”

 

“So you can’t see… anything?”

 

“Not in here, nope. Just Fenris.”

 

“Mm. So don’t wander off.” Fenris said dryly. Eli did stay close to him, as Fenris and Cutie spread out to look at babies. Cutie felt awkward with them, feeling guilty that when they left, only one would be leaving with them.

 

It was Fenris who first picked up the baby boy. He was a bit older than the others in the cribs, about a year old. He had a smile that lit up the whole room. It made Fenris smile too.

 

“Hello there.” 

 

“Hi!” The baby boy said shyly. Fenris’ heart melted. Eli smiled too.

 

“Can I hold him?”

 

“Hang on, I just got him” Fenris swatted Eli’s hands away. Cutie came over to meet the boy too. He had black curly hair, and wide hazel eyes. He held tight to Fenris’ hand, despite just meeting. Cutie’s chest warmed. 

 

Fenris carried him back to find Anders, and the five sat down among the toys. 

 

“Hey there, sweetie.” Anders said gently. “Want to play with us?” 

 

The boy looked excited and nodded, crawling over to the toy bin. Anders helped him pull it out and look for toys to share. There wasn’t much in there, just dismal donations, but the boy pulled out whatever animal figures or wooden carvings were left in the box.

 

“You like animals, huh?” Fenris picked one up and handed another to Eli. The boy whined and took them back quickly.

 

“Aw, can’t we share?” Anders gave him a pout. 

 

The boy shook his head and inspected each animal before handing them out. 

  
“I guess I gave you the wrong one.” Fenris said to Eli, chuckling. 

 

The boy giggled and made his animal talk to the others, chattering mostly incoherently, but also mostly in animal sounds. 

 

They fell in love with this little boy.

 

“What’s your name, sweetheart?” Eli asked him, after awhile of playing. “Do you have a name?”

 

The boy held up one finger, and then three. 

 

“Thirteen?” Anders frowned. “Sweetie, did they name you when you came in here?”

 

“Da’len.” The boy said.

 

“That isn’t a name.” Cutie said.

  
“We need to give him a name.” Anders said, with determination. “A real name.”

 

“Is that ok with you, little one?” Fenris poked his stomach and the boy giggled, looking quite alright with that idea, in fact.

 

“Dragon.” Eli said.

  
“Absolutely not.” Fenris rolled his eyes. “And nothing Tevene.”   
  
“Terisin.” Cutie said. They mulled it over.    
  
“Why that?”   
  
“It’s elvhen. It means flint and fire, or a stone that makes fire.” Cutie’s ears reddened. “I just… think it suits him.”   
  
Anders kissed the baby’s hand. “It does suit him.”   
  
“We can call him Teri!” Eli grinned.   
  
“Wait until you see your new home, Teri. You’ll love it, we have lots of animals for you to play with, and lots of space.” Anders cooed. “And someone will read to you every night…”   
  


Cutie’s smile suddenly fell. “We forgot to get a crib!”

 

There was silence and then they all laughed. Teri understood little but started giggling too. 

 

“We’ll get one on the way back.” 

 

And so they did.

 

\-----

 

Teri had a whole new house to explore. He could only walk a little, so he stumbled around clinging to chairs, and couches and walls, and then he would fall on his butt and hold his arms up for someone to carry him. He met Dragon the dog, and the cats, and squealed in delight at their presence.

 

Fenris sat down with Teri in his lap, Eli, Anders and Cutie sitting nearby.

 

“Ok, let’s make this clear. I’m Papa. That’s Daddy,” He pointed to Eli, who laughed a bit. “That’s… Pop.” Fenris decided, pointing to Anders, who looked delighted. Fenris paused at Cutie.

“And… hm.”

 

“Thanks Fenris.”

 

“I ran out.” He admit sheepishly.

 

“Da!” Teri declared, reaching for Cutie. Cutie took him and kissed his head.

 

“I suppose that works.” He said fondly.

 

They let him up and watched Teri run around the house for hours. He toddled along, Fenris and Anders racing around to grab anything not baby friendly out of his hands, or off shelves, or from from the floor. Meanwhile, Cutie and Eli followed Teri around in case someone needed to catch him. 

 

Finally, Eli scooped him up.

 

“Ok, bud, time for a nap.”

 

“Noooooo!” He whined and tried to squirm from Eli’s arms. 

 

“Yes, you’re tired. Nap time.”

 

“No!” He yawned.

 

Eli plopped Teru down into their bed- not having had the chance to get a crib for the boy.

 

Teri immediately started bawling.

 

“Hey! Shh, shh, nap time, no crying!” Eli panicked. Cutie rolled his eyes and picked Teri up again. 

 

“Come on, Teri, we’re going to read a book together. Ok?” Cutie took the book Mikela had left behind and sat with Teri on his lap. “You can turn the pages for me.”

 

Teri sniffled and got comfortable in Cutie’s lap. Cutie wasn’t halfway through the book before Teri was fast asleep. Cutie tucked him into bed and quietly closed the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to comment!


	3. Shopping and Processing

There were still clothes, toys, a crib, and other things they had to get for their new son. Fenris and Cutie went out to do the shopping, while Eli ran to tell Varric the news. Leaving Anders alone at home, overwhelmed by the sudden turn in his life. He laid back on the couch and closed his eyes, and realized he wasn’t the only one feeling overwhelmed. Justice was too.

 

“You’ve fought dragons, demons, slavers, red lyrium crazed templars- all without fear or hesitation. But a little elven toddler makes you nervous?” Anders laughed, but the question was for both of them. Neither of them had an answer.

 

\----

 

“We’re shopping for a child. Our child.” Fenris said as he picked out animal print sleep clothes.

 

“Our child.” Cutie repeated, a grin on his face that hadn’t left since he first laid eyes on Terisin. Fenris chuckled, feeling giddy as well.

 

“We need to get him some animal toys. He’s a little young for figurines, but the plush toys…” Cutie was babbling. Fenris didn’t mind. They picked out blankets, clothes, and many, many stuffed animals for their new son.

 

Cutie had fallen quiet by the time they were examining cribs, smile gone.

 

“What’s wrong, Amatus?” Fenris took his hand.

 

“Are we going to tell him?” Cutie asked. “About Danarius, Kristoff and Jakov? That we were slaves? That we killed our masters so we could be free?”

 

Fenris didn’t answer right away, thinking.

 

“Yes.” He said finally. “He will know their names, and he will know men like that will never harm him. He will be proud of his heritage, as the son of people who had to fight with bloody hands for their freedom. He will never forget how valuable and precious a thing freedom is.”

 

Cutie squeezed his hand.

 

“I hope they’re choking on this news in the Fade.” He said. Fenris smiled.

 

“Me too.”

 

\-----

 

“You WHAT?!” Varric was grinning. Eli had thrown open Varric’s door and blurted out his news without preamble, and for three whole minutes, the keep had been dead silent. The Varric had burst out laughing.

 

“He’s beautiful Varric---”

 

“How would you know?  


“And you have to meet him.”

 

Varric chuckled and shook his head. “A son, wow…”

 

“You’d be Uncle Varric!” Eli grinned too. “You have to meet him, he’s the sweetest boy.”

 

“You’ve known him one day, he could turn out to be a little demon!”

 

“Then he’d fit right in with us!”

 

Varric laughed again.

 

“Well I haven’t seen you this lovestruck since you met Anders. I’d love to meet  the kid.”

 

“Tonight?”

 

“Alright, tonight”

 

Eli pulled him into a tight hug “Great!”

 

Varric chuckled and pat his back.

 

“You know… this kid, he should probably meet his actual uncle too.”

 

Eli’s smile fell.

 

“I don’t know.”

 

“Just something to keep in mind, yeah?’

 

“Yeah.”

 

\-----

 

When everyone returned to the house, it smelled like Anders’ cooking. Teri’s giggled could be heard from the kitchen, too.

 

Fenris went to set up the crib; Cutie wanted to get all the toys and clothes put away properly. Eli wrapped his arms around Anders’ waist from behind.

 

“Hey Babe, what’s cookin?”

 

“Teri said he’s hungry, so I’m making mac and cheese. With veggies.”

 

“Yum”

 

Teri was sitting at the kitchen table, scribbling on some paper Anders had given him. 

 

“Teri’s making me a pretty picture.” 

 

“I’ll take your word for it.” Eli chuckled “Varric’s coming to dinner tonight, to meet Teri.”

 

“Good, it’ll be nice to have company.” Anders smiled. He was so happy he couldn’t believe it.

 

Feeding Teri was another adventure, as the toddler was much more interested in wearing his food than eating it. It took all three of them, but finally Teri was fed and set free to play with his new animal plushies.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to comment!


	4. Little Sunshine

Varric loved Teri too, even after Teri gave him a stuffed nug and insisted they matched. Varric tried to convince Eli to talk to Carver over dinner, but Eli kept shutting him down.

 

Eventually Varric headed out for the night, and everyone went to bed.

 

Getting Teri to bed this time was a little easier, with a whole shelf of bedtime stories to choose from. Teri also got to choose which parent read to him, and tonight he chose Fenris. Fenris read Goodnight Moon to Teri until the toddler was asleep in his arm. Then Fenris tucked him into his crib and made sure he had his nug plush with him.

 

Eli was already snoring by the time Fenris crawled into bed with them. Anders was curled up half into Eli’s side, and Cutie was up reading. So much had changed so fast, but they were still the same. Fenris took Cutie’s book away and blew out his candle. 

 

“Goodnight, Amatus.”

 

“Ugh. Goodnight, Fenris.”

 

Cutie laid down and closed his eyes too.

 

Fenris watched them all sleep, still feeling giddy. Too excited to sleep, like a child. He closed his eyes and tried to will sleep to take him. It wasn’t working

 

While Fenris was trying to calm down, Justice woke. 

 

Fenris peeked open an eye and watched the glowing blue from get up from bed and leave the room. Fenris sat up and followed quietly.

 

Justice went to Teri’s room, and looked into the crib. Fenris watched from the doorway.

 

Teri rolled over in his sleep, and Justice reached a hand into the crib, but stopped just short of touching him. He frowned and pulled back.

 

**“I will never let anything harm you, Terisin. I swear this to you, you will never feel the injustice and pain your parents have felt…”**

 

Justice reached towards him and stopped short again.

 

**“I don’t know if we will ever meet, Little Sunshine. Maybe it would be better for you, if we didn’t.”**

  
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Fenris finally spoke up, making Justice jump. “He’ll meet you. You’re his father too. And he’ll love you.”

 

**“What if I scare him?”**

 

“You won’t. He’ll understand.” Fenris said with confidence. He joined Justice next to the crib and watched Teri snoring into his pawprint blanket. “He’ll love you, Justice. As much as you love him.”

 

**“There is still so much I don’t understand about mortals, about love, about family…”**

 

“You do. You understand us, don’t you? Our love?”

 

**“Sometimes even that I am not sure of.”**

  
Fenris chuckled. “That’s ok, neither am I. None of us know how to be parents, Justice. Not really. Not everything. But we’ll figure it out together. All of us. You too.” 

 

Justice nodded, and finally put a hand on Teri, stroking his hair. Teri pressed into the touch.

 

**“I will protect him.”**

 

“We all will. Come back to bed soon.” Fenris kissed his cheek and went back to finally get some sleep.

 

Justice stayed with Teri, watching over him. 

  
**“I will protect you, Little Sunshine.”**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you Enjoyed! Dont forget to comment!

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed! Dont forget to comment!


End file.
